Police used Tasers against children in Croydon 12 times in four years, a report has revealed.

Officers in the borough used the stun guns at the second highest rate in London, according to figures obtained by the Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE).

The pressure group said Metropolitan Police usage of the weapons, which discharge electrical current to temporarily incapacitate targets, on young people had increased sixfold since 2008.

Across London, Tasers were used on youngsters on 51 occasions in 2012 compared to nine in 2008.

Croydon, Southwark, Lambeth and Lewisham together accounted for almost 40 per cent of the usage last year.

Officers targeted Croydon children 12 times in total between 2008 and 2012.

Last year, a United Nations (UN) committee on torture expressed deep concerns about the use of Tasers on children and called for the practice to be banned.

A UN committee on children's rights expressed similar views in 2008.

CRAE's report also revealed 628 children aged between 11 and 17 received their first police reprimand, caution or criminal conviction last year.

The figure is the 11th highest in London.

Paola Uccellari, the organisation's director, said: "Children living in the same city are experiencing vastly different treatment, depending on where they happen to grow up, and this is not always linked to obvious explanations such as high child poverty or crime rates."

These numbers don't seem so scary considering how many kids are packing knives these days.

The alternative is a truncheon to the head, and that can lead to brain damage. Be careful what you wish for.

These numbers don't seem so scary considering how many kids are packing knives these days.
The alternative is a truncheon to the head, and that can lead to brain damage. Be careful what you wish for.christhegoth